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July 3, 2009

G79: Mariners 7, Red Sox 6 (11)

George Kottaras hit his first major league home run in the 11th, but the Sox came up one run short.

Trailing 5-2 in the seventh, J.D. Drew belted a solo home run to dead center. With one out in the eighth, facing Sean White, Jason Bay walked and Mark Kotsay singled. Sean Kelley got Jacoby Ellsbury on a high fly to the track in left. Then Sean Green doubled high off the Wall, missing a home run by a few feet, but still tying the game at 5-5.

Seattle scored twice in the top of the 11th off Ramon Ramirez, with Rob Jonson's two-run double -- his third two-bagger of the night -- being the big blow.

Kottaras belted his dong to right-center with two outs in the bottom half of the 11th. Drew followed with a line drive single to right, but Dustin Pedroia grounded into a fielder's choice to end the game.

It was the first time Boston had played consecutive extra inning games since July 9 and 13, 2006. The first one was a 19-inning loss to the White Sox.

Drew, Green, Kottaras and Kotsay each had two hits; Green also walked and was the only Boston batter to reach base three times. Kevin Youkilis was 0-for-5, David Ortiz was 0-for-4 with a walk and a run scored, and Pedroia was 1-for-6.

The Yankees beat the Blue Jays 4-2 earlier in the afternoon, so the Red Sox are now only 2 GA.

Hernandez returns to the scene of one of his best career starts -- a one-hitter against the Red Sox at Fenway Park three years ago [April 11, 2007] -- on a big-time roll. The ace right-hander has surrendered five earned runs in his past 53 innings, striking out 51 over that span. His two-seam fastball has been his bread-and-butter pitch, and rookie catcher Rob Johnson has not been shy about calling for it.

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Canadian-born Jason Bay became an American citizen on Thursday (photos):

My wife is American and both my girls are American as well. This is where I spend most of my time [Bay lives in Seattle]. Although it is a big deal, it doesn't mean I cease being Canadian. I'll always be Canadian.

Bay had a horrible road trip, going 6-for-36 (.167/.189/.250); in his first game at Washington, Bay went 4-for-6, so in his last seven games, he is 2-for-30, with one walk. On Wednesday he became the fifth Red Sox player to strike out five times in one game.

I'm completely getting myself out now. Timing-wise, I'm kind of in between - I can't hit the fastball, can't hit the breaking ball. It's just one of those situations where everything that could go wrong is going wrong.

Daisuke Matsuzaka is on his way to Florida to begin a conditioning and shoulder-strengthening program. ... The Globe has an interesting article on Nick Green, anger and stress management. ... Thursday's Astros-Padres game in San Diego was delayed 52 minutes because of bees.

Earlier this week when Smoltz was taken out of the game , it was said that he doesn't quailfy for win , but if the Red Sox were losing he would have been in line for the lose...The way they score pitching stats in mlb, need some work.....If Smoltz was throwing a perfect game for 4 and2/3 then hurt himself he couldn't get the win, but if Papelbon comes in and throws one pitch in the 9th in a save situation he gets a save.....Should there actullay be a stat for blown saves when you team wins ,after the closer blew it,and then pitcher gets the (BS) and the win?

In my opinion saves are the most overrated stat in baseball, but players are measured on it to a crazy degree.. really your team is up by 3 runs and you give up 2 you still get a save, and he should be rewared for that, when a quality start is measured by giving up 3 runs over 6 innings....

Not unlike a pitcher's W/L record, which is almost meaningless, and tells you next to nothing about how he's pitching.

it does ,to a point because a pitcher will most likely not get a win when he doesn't pitch well, i.e Josh Beckett in his wins has only given up more than 3 runs once....in his losses he gave up 4, 7, and 7......Grienke gave up 1 , 6 and 7 in losses, in wins never more than 2.....so you can tell alot about wins and losses with starting pitchers...Chris Carpenter whose team doesn't hit....in losses gave up 3, 3, and 6......in wins 1,0,2,1, and 1....so wins and loses say more than people would like to beleive..

Saves do suck as stats, though some people keep track of which are tough and easy. And BR has a leverage index for each pitcher's appearances.

W-L should be abolished.

I also thought the QS stat was fairly bogus (4.50 = quality -- ??), but as it turns out if you make it 6 IP and 2 ER (a 3.00 ERA), more than 80% of QS would qualify. The outer limit is not as common as we might think.

in 14 losses....3,5,2,1,5,3,6,3,4,3,2,2,4,3.....he could have easily been 20-10,if not better...that was a great year thats why he finished 2nd in the CY, too with someone with a better winning percentage....